Gov. Mark Dayton and his staff have about six months left in their two-floor suite before a massive renovation to the century-old Capitol displaces them. Come June, they’ll relocate to the Veterans Services Building on the edge of downtown St. Paul.

Dayton said Tuesday that he personally nixed a move to the closer Centennial Office Building because he didn’t want the cost of retrofitting that space associated with him, particularly in an election year. The Veterans Building space is vacant and considered move-in ready.

The Democratic governor — or his successor if he is defeated next fall — won’t return to the Capitol until December 2016 at the earliest.

A $270 million project is under way to recondition the Capitol inside and out.